06/13, 7:20pm

Resellers worry about Apple competition

Apple resellers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the product expansion and aggressive pricing seen on the online Apple Store. Several resellers contacted by ARN said they had noticed a significant increase in the number of third-party products carried by Apple Store. One claimed the number had doubled during the past year. "Apple shouldn't be competing directly because it makes the dealer channel weaker," Next Byte director Adam Steinhardt, said. "They talk about resellers adding value but the margin on software is important to us and it is being eradicated." Apple marketing manager, Arno Lenior, said he was aware that resellers were unhappy with some pricing on Apple Store.

06/13, 6:45pm

Apps: Moneydance, QuickAccessCM, Fetch Art...

Moneydance 2003 r2 is an update to the complete cross-platform personal finance application. Enhancements include an improved online banking and bill payment interface, superior QIF file import, VAT/GST tracking, and much more. Other Moneydance features such as graphs, reports, budgeting, check printing, and investment management also been improved. This update is free for all Moneydance users. Moneydance is $30 for new customers. [Download - 2.4MB]QuickAccessCM is a plug-in for easy access to frequently used folders, documents and applications. Version 1.4.5 now tries to mount a remote volume if the referenced item is on a network/disk image/removable media volume and the paste function in QuickAccessSetup replaces the current selection, as one would expect. [Download - 180KB]Fetch Art for iTunes is a program that automatically downloads album art for one or many mp3s from Amazon.com, and inserts the art into the mp3s' ID3 tags, so that it can be displayed by iTunes. Fetch Art for iTunes is controlled through the iTunes Script menu. It works with iTunes 4.0, which includes support for album art. [Download - 976KB]
Pyramid Designs today released an update to FTP Suite, its set of classes and code modules that allows FTP operations to be implemented in REALbasic applications. Version 2.0 adds a handful of new features and
some small bug fixes. Pyramid Design offers three types of licenses: professional ($60), Hobbyist ($30), and Source Code. [Download - 1.7]
Microspot today announced the latest version of X-RIP, its Mac OS X-native professional large format printer driver. Version 1.6 adds new features "improving overall quality and performance." New in this version is Microspot's Pixel Expansion technology, which dramatically increases speed while lowering the RAM requirement. Enhanced error diffusion algorithm has also been added resulting in higher quality photographic prints. Other additions include support for the Encad range of printers as well as some OcZ and Xerox printers using the Generic Printer setting. Pricing starts at £349.00. [Download - 28MB]

06/13, 4:30pm

Speck debuts three accessories for 3G iPods

Speck Products has announced three new accessories for Apple's "3G" (third generation) iPods.

The iPod Skin is a rubberized protective cover that protects all four top corners and that is made out of the shock-absorbing, tear-resistant Kraton plastic. It works with the iPod dock while it remains in the case via a flex-away-flap allows the bottom portion of the skin to be folded back so that the iPod can be docked for charging and synchronization. It is available in Frosted White, Cobalt Blue, and Charcoal for $20 or $30 for a 3-pack. It is expected to ship on July 3rd.
The updated FlipStand has been redesigned to hug the curves of the new iPod; the all-clear case provides easy access to the scroll wheel via its flip door, which can also be used as desktop stand. The $30 case, expected to ship on July 22, includes a customized dock that allows you to synchronize and charge the iPod.
The iSport is carry case designed for runners and the casual exerciser: "Its unique molded EVA foam construction enables a ultra- light construction that is curved to hug your back and stay in place. It includes a built-in safety light to help increase your visibility day or night." The $45 strap-on case has zippered pouches for carrying other items as well. It is expected to ship on July 3rd.

06/13, 4:20pm

Local DJ sells iPods with custom playlists

A local Philidelphia DJ is selling iPods with custom playlists to various clubs, restaurants, and other businesses, according to the Philadelphia City Paper: "Armed with a small fleet of iPods, Porter's embarking on a one-of-a-kind business venture: filling the little mp3 players with a specially created musical catalog and renting them out to area businesses. 'Instead of going in with my vinyl and DJing for four hours, I can DJ for them for the whole month.' As far as he knows, he's the first to come up with this particular business model....For a couple hundred dollars a month, he comes in to switch up the playlists, and he provides the iPods."

06/13, 4:15pm

Compal to manufacture 15.4\" PowerBooks

The Digitimes reports that "Compal will start shipping 15.4-inch wide-screen PowerBooks for Apple in the second half of this year, with initial monthly shipments estimated at 30,000-40,000 units. Compal is currently producing 17-inch PowerBooks, while Quanta Computer and Asustek Computer are contract manufacturing the 15.2- and 12.1-inch models, respectively, sources said."

06/13, 4:10pm

FCP 4 delivered in advance of Saturday launch

Several MacNN readers report delivery of Final Cut Pro 4 (both today and yesterday), a few days ahead of the expected Saturday release of Apple's video editing application. The editing software for film, HD, SD and DV will go on sale at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 14, at participating Apple Authorized Resellers and Apple retail stores, while select stores will host a "4@4" kick-off event with theater demos and "industry-leading editors sharing how their latest projects were made with Final Cut Pro." The $1000 application is available as a $400 upgrade for v3.0 owners.

06/13, 4:05pm

Apple reposts Security Update 2003-06-09

Apple has reposted its Mac OS X 10.2.6 security update (as v2.0) from earlier this week to resolve "the login problems evident in some installations of the previous patch," according to one reader. The Security Update 2003-06-09 addressed "a potential security issue when the Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is used to reshare a Network File System (NFS) mount and also resolved a situation where LDAP bind authentication requests may be improperly sent when using Kerberos authentication.

06/13, 1:05pm

FireWire Depot adds new FireWire 800 products

FireWire Depot has added new 1394b products to its line of FireWire 800/1394b and FireWire800/USB2 products, including a SlimLine-800 1394b FireWire/USB2 combo 3.5" enclosure ($180), which is due in mid-July 2003. The other new products: MantaRay-800 1394 FireWire/USB2 3.5" enclosure ($180, due at the end of June 2003); Speedzter3-800 1394b FireWire/USB2 combo 3.5" enclosure ($180, due at the end of June 2003), and Speedzter3-800 1394b FireWire 3.5" ($170), which due at the end of June 2003. All FireWire Depot 3.5" enclosures are compatible with ATA6 large capacity drives (greater than 160GB).

06/13, 1:00pm

MacUser UK: no more IE developement from MS

Roz Ho, the general manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac, according to PC Pro: "Ho says that the decision has been made to make way for Apple's own Safari browser. 'Some of the key customer requests for web browsing on the Mac require close development between the browser and the OS, something to which only Apple has access,' she explained. 'As part of the OS (operating system), IE will continue to evolve, but there will be no future standalone installations. IE6 SP1 [for Windows] is the final standalone installation,' Microsoft's Brian Countryman said in a recent interview."

06/13, 11:30am

Apps: QT Effects Pack, Xupport, TinyBooks...

QuickTime Effects Pack 1.0 a shareware pack of effects for QuickTime 6.0-compatible applications such as Arboretum Systems' Montage, Final Cut Express/Pro, Adobe Premiere, and QuickTime Pro. The package contains Flip, PayTV (scrambling the image), Mixer (motion blur), and Conversion (from 4:3 to 16:9 or visa versa). It is 9 Euros. [163KB]
Pixture Studio has several freeware utilities for Mac OS X, including CalculateSizeCM 1.2 (CCM-a contextual menu plugin that calculates the total size and number of sub folders, files, invisible items); QuickImageCM 1.4 (contextual menu plugin that displays graphic image files without launching any application); FinderIconCM 1.2 (FICM, contextual menu to copy/paste/clear icon from selected items); SnapClip 1.6 (SC-screenshot utility with multiple output options); OtherTime 1.2 (OT-can display up to 4 different times in dock); and IconSizeEnabler 1.0 (ISE-use multiple icon sizes in a single Finder window or on the Desktop). [CCM,FICM, SC, OT, ISE]Multiple Picture Viewer 1.0 from Monkey Bread Software is a simple picture viewer for image files which contain more then one picture. It includes export functions as well as functions to copy the current picture to the clipboard. The application is freeware, but contributions are accepted through
PayPal. [Classic, OSX]
The all-in-one system utility Xupport 1.3.3 adds a secure text field for passwords, an improved authentication system, improved firewall options, a better progress indicator, new "kill" buttons for the Finder and dock, the ability to remove old log files, and other interface improvements. Xupport provides a clean GUI (Graphical User Interface) to configure many Mac OS X options, that are not or hard to configure manually, and more. [219KB]
The $50 accounting/book keeping program called TinyBooks 1.08 is designed for Sole Proprietors, home and other small businesses, and family finances. It is a simple, flexible, non-bloated, single-entry bookkeeping program. Version 1.08 now adds criteria display to the custom reports. [205KB]
Robb Timlin's Classic Window Management 1.0 gives "you the option to have windows in Mac OS X behave like they did in Mac OS 9, where all of an application's windows stayed grouped together. So when you click on one window, all windows belonging to that application come to the front." [132KB]
Yellow Mug Software's Snap'nDrag 1.0 is a freeware screen capture application that offers options in JPEG, PNG or TIFF formats as well as JPEG compression settings. [158KB]

06/13, 8:15am

Apps: PostMan Query, Contacts, FolderGuard...

PostMan Query 1.0 is a native (Objective-C and C) PostgreSQL query tool. It allows SQL query results to be viewed in table and tab-delimited formats. PostMan Query allows both local and remote connections across the internet allows Tab-delimited results to be printed or saved to disk. Version 1.0 adds a new table/column view, has minor performance tweaks, and other bug fixes and minor features. It is freeware for Mac OS X. [560KB]
The terminal utility Contacts 1.0 offers you access to view and search all your records in the AddressBook database. It offers options to sort, custom format display, and other command-line options. It is freeware the source code is licensed under the GPL. [92KB]Galactica Anno Dominar 2.1 is an update to strategy game by VendorNation. Version 2.1 allows you to host a plethora of multiplayer games all on one machine. It also includes administration controls, which allow you to communicate with players, leave messages while players are not logged in, modify game settings after the game has started, and to modify player settings as well. A demo of the $20 game title is available. [4.4MB]
MacZ Software has released an updated version of FolderGuard 2.5.2, its $10 utility designed to "keep your folders private from prying eyes, and to do that cost-effectively and easily: Version 2.5.2 brings a number of bugfixes and improvements to the Mac OS X version while at the same time bringing the Mac OS 9 version on par with the Mac OS X version by adding strong Blowfish 448-bit encryption support and other features." [Classic, OSX]

06/13, 7:55am

Keynote HQ releases new Keynote themes

Keynote HQ has released new themes to "celebrate" the release of Keynote 1.1, including a free 800x600 theme background called Lightning. It also released a new high resolution premium theme, Ripples in both 800x600 and 1024x768 sizes. Ripples features two complete sets of masters slides (22 in all) in two color schemes and also contains 17 different bullets including transparent water droplets, custom chart fills, heading underlines, a "glint" highlight, pie chart and photo cutout overlays that look like puddles, plus a free sound effect. It is available for $12.

06/13, 7:55am

Quark 6 ships next week, upgrades in 90 days

Several MacNN readers wrote to clarify the Quark Xpress 6 shipping date confusion: "I also ordered the Quark 5 upgrade this week with a free upgrade to Quark 6 when release. The person at Quark who took my order told me that I was guaranteed to receive version 6 within 90 days of its release, but that Quark Xpress 6 [new orders] would indeed start to ship next week."

06/13, 7:50am

WWDC to showcase HyperTransport technology

Apple plans to discuss how it will incorporate HyperTransport, a rapid chip-to-chip communications technology, into future computers later this month at its developer conference (WWDC), according to c|net: "[it] will use HyperTransport as a high-speed link between the two processors that make up the chipset in new desktop Macintoshes, sources said....Apple is one of the founding members of the HyperTransport consortium of companies backing the standard, which includes Advanced Micro Devices, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems."

06/13, 7:45am

Apple Security Update 6-12 for OS X Server

Apple yesterday released Security Update 2003-06-12, which updates Mac OS X Server (the update is not required for Mac OS X client): " updates Apache 2.0.45 to 2.0.46 and addresses a security hole in the mod_dav module that could be exploited remotely causing an Apache Web server process to crash. In addition, this update prevents the exposure of a user's password when using the dsimportexport tool." Earlier this week, Apple released a security update for Mac OS X 10.2.6. [SU 06-12 for X Server]

06/13, 7:40am

Kagi to begin charging VAT for EU customers

Mac shareware developer Chris Smolinski (of Black Cat Systems) notes that "Kagi has announced that, effective July 1, 2003, they will begin charging VAT on sales to customers in the EU. Therefore, I'd like to suggest that any users in the EU (whether of our products or someone else's) who are planning on registering (buying) a program through Kagi, do so before July 1, and save between 15-25%."

06/13, 7:35am

CE Software ships QuicKeys X2 for Mac OS X

CE Software today began shipping the final version of QuicKeys X2, its Mac automation utility. Version 2.0, for Mac OS X only, features new shortcuts for storing and retrieving collections of images and text, pop-up menu selection, recording and playback, a redesigned interface and new multi-step shortcut tools: " QuicKeys X2 performs shortcuts that automate the computing tasks you do each day. It takes the daily tasks that would normally require you five...six...twenty or more steps and turns them into simple one step shortcuts." Upgrades to the $100 application start at $20 for registered v1.5 owners (and $35 for others).

06/13, 7:30am

Blackmagic debuts DeckLink 4.0 beta for FCP 4

Blackmagic Design today announced the release of a public beta of DeckLink 4.0b software update for its family of uncompressed QuickTime video capture cards. DeckLink 4.0 adds support for RT Extreme, which brings support for realtime effects built into Final Cut Pro 4 (FCP 4). Version 4.0 also supports FCP's new multi channel audio features, offering up to 8 channels of simultaneou audio output to high end broadcast decks. Blackmagic DeckLink also features independent desktop output for use with non-QuickTime applications such as Adobe Photoshop and also includes full support for Adobe After Effects 16-bit RGB rendering, and Discreet Combustion quick capture and realtime RAM previews. Pricing for Decklink hardware starts at $1000. The software is a free update to all registered owners.

06/13, 7:30am

Orange Micro debuts Bluetooth USB adapter

Orange Micro has announced its Blue2 Bluetooth USB Adapter, a "tiny and attractive Bluetooth adapter plugs into your existing USB port and instantly allows you to benefit from the wireless revolution that is based on Bluetooth technology." The Blue2 Bluetooth USB Adapter is a class II Bluetooth device, providing a communication range of approximately 30 feet. The adapter plugs directly into your existing USB port, or can be used with the included extension cable. It will retail for $40 and is expected to ship on July 7th.

06/13, 7:00am

Dr. Bott ships naviPod wireless IR remote

Dr. Bott has begun distribuitng TEN Technology's naviPod ($50), one of the first wireless remotes for the iPod consisting of a receiver that plugs into the top of the iPod and a 5-button infrared remote control that produces the same functions as the Apple iPod wired remote. "naviPod is all about accessing your music how and where you want it. This product is innovative, elegant, and intuitive." naviPod for the original iPod is compatible with all first and second generation iPods with Firewire port and includes a pass-through Firewire port for keeping the iPod charged, while naviPod for the "3G" (third generationZ) iPod is compatible with all iPods with the new Dock Connector.